Ten Commandments; permit display in every public school and charter school classroom.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representatives Remak, Harris

HOUSE BILL NO. 494

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-13-163, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO PERMIT EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD AND CHARTER SCHOOL GOVERNING 2
BOARD TO DISPLAY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN A PROMINENT LOCATION 3
WITHIN EACH SCHOOL OR CHARTER SCHOOL FACILITY UNDER ITS 4
JURISDICTION BY NOT LATER THAN JANUARY 1, 2027; TO PRESCRIBE 5
ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS AND TEXTS THAT SCHOOL BOARDS 6
GOVERNING AUTHORITY MAY CHOOSE TO DISPLAY IN THEIR CLASSROOMS; TO 7
REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ADOPT RULES AND 8
REGULATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT TO 9
ENSURE THE PROPER IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS ACT; TO REQUIRE THE STATE 10
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO IDENTIFY APPROPRIATE RESOURCES TO 11
COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT THAT ARE FREE OF CHARGE, 12
AND ONCE IDENTIFIED, TO LIST THE FREE RESOURCES ON THE 13
DEPARTMENT'S WEBSITE; TO AMEND SECTION 37-28-45, MISSISSIPPI CODE 14
OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 15
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 16
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the 17
following: 18
(1) In 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States 19
recognized that it is permissible to display the Ten Commandments 20
on government property in Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677, 688 21
(2005); 22
(2) In 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States further 23
recognized that the Ten Commandments "have historical significance 24
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as one of the foundations of our legal system. . .", in American 25
Legion v. American Humanists Association, 588 U.S. 29, 53 (2019) 26
and, the court also ruled that the displaying of the Ten 27
Commandments on public property may have "multiple purposes" such 28
as "historical significance" and represent a "common cultural 29
heritage". id, 588 U.S. at 54. 30
(3) Recognizing the historical role of the Ten Commandments 31
accords with our nation's history and faithfully reflects the 32
understanding of the founders of our nation with respect to the 33
necessity of civic morality to a functional self-government. 34
History records that James Madison, the fourth President of the 35
United States of America, stated that "(w)e have staked the whole 36
future of our new nation . . . upon the capacity of each ourselves 37
to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten 38
Commandments." 39
(4) Including the Ten Commandments in the education of our 40
children is part of our state and national history, culture, and 41
tradition. 42
(5) The text of the Ten Commandments set forth in subsection 43
(b) of this section is identical to the text of the Ten 44
Commandments monument that was upheld by the Supreme Court of the 45
United States in Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677, 688 (2005). 46
(6) The Mayflower Compact of 1620 was America's first 47
written constitution and made a Covenant with Almighty God to 48
"form a civil body politic". This was the first purely American 49
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document of self-government and affirmed the link between civil 50
society and God. 51
(7) The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided a method of 52
admitting new states to the Union from the territory as the 53
country expanded to the Pacific. The ordinance "extended the 54
fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty" to the 55
territories and stated that "(r)eligion, morality, and knowledge, 56
being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, 57
schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." 58
(8) It is the Legislature's intent to apply the decision set 59
forth by the Supreme Court of the United States in Van Orden v. 60
Perry, id, to continue the rich tradition and ensure that the 61
students in our public schools may understand and appreciate the 62
foundational documents of our state and national government. 63
(9) The Supreme Court of the United States acknowledged that 64
the Ten Commandments may be displayed on local government property 65
when a private donation is made for the purchase of the historical 66
monument. Pleasant Grove City, Utah v. Summan, 555 U.S. 460 67
(2006). 68
(10) It is the intention of the Legislature that this 69
section shall not create an unfunded mandate on any public school 70
governing authority. The school boards are encouraged to use 71
documents that are printed and made available to the schools free 72
of charge. 73
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SECTION 2. Section 37-13-163, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 74
amended as follows: 75
37-13-163. (1) Any teacher, administrator, school council 76
or local school board in any public school district in this state 77
may post in a public school building, classroom or at any school 78
event or read from any historical document or writing relating to 79
the founding of the United States of America or this state, or 80
both, notwithstanding the fact that such materials may include 81
religious quotations, references or illustrations. There shall be 82
no content-based censorship of American or Mississippi History, 83
heritage or culture based on any religious references contained in 84
such documents, writings or records. 85
(2) Principals and teachers in each public elementary and 86
secondary school of each school district in this state shall 87
display on an appropriately framed background with minimum 88
dimensions of eleven (11) inches by fourteen (14) inches, the 89
following motto of the United States of America in each classroom, 90
school auditorium and school cafeteria under his or her 91
supervision: "IN GOD WE TRUST." For purposes of this provision, 92
"classroom" shall mean any room of a public school where 93
instruction takes place. 94
(3) (a) No later than January 1, 2027, each public school 95
board and charter school governing board may display the Ten 96
Commandments in a prominent location within each school facility 97
under its jurisdiction. The nature of the display shall be 98
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determined by the appropriate governing board provided that the 99
Ten Commandments shall be displayed on a poster or framed document 100
that is at least eleven (11) inches by fourteen (14) inches in 101
dimension. The text of the Ten Commandments shall be the central 102
focus of the poster or framed document and shall be printed in a 103
large, easily readable font. 104
(b) The text shall read as follows: 105
"The Ten Commandments 106
I AM the LORD thy God. 107
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 108
Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images. 109
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain. 110
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 111
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon 112
the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 113
Thou shalt not kill. 114
Thou shalt not commit adultery. 115
Thou shalt not steal. 116
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 117
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. 118
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor 119
his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy 120
neighbor's." 121
(c) The Ten Commandments shall be displayed with a 122
context statement as follows: 123
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"The History of the Ten Commandments in American Public 124
Education The Ten Commandments were a prominent part of American 125
public education, for almost three (3) centuries. Around the year 126
1688, The New England Primer became the first published American 127
textbook and was the equivalent of a first grade reader. The New 128
England Primer was used in public schools throughout the United 129
States for more than one hundred fifty (150) years to teach 130
Americans to read and contained more than forty (40) questions 131
about the Ten Commandments. 132
The Ten Commandments were also included in public school 133
textbooks published by educator, William McGuffey, a noted 134
university president and professor. A version of his famous 135
McGuffey Readers was written in the early 1800s and became one (1) 136
of the most popular textbooks in the history of American 137
education, selling more than one hundred million (100,000,000) 138
copies. Copies of the McGuffey Readers are still available today. 139
The Ten Commandments also appeared in textbooks published by 140
Noah Webster in which were widely used in American public schools 141
along with America's first comprehensive dictionary that Webster 142
also published. His textbook, The American Spelling Book, 143
contained the Ten Commandments and sold more than one hundred 144
million (100,000,000) copies for use by public school children all 145
across the nation and was still available for use in American 146
public schools in the year 1975." 147
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(d) A public school may also display the Mayflower 148
Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest 149
Ordinance, along with the Ten Commandments. 150
(e) This section shall not require a public school 151
board or charter school governing board to spend its funds to 152
purchase displays. In order to fund the displays free of charge, 153
the school public governing authority may: 154
(i) Accept donated funds to purchase the displays; 155
or 156
(ii) Accept donated displays. 157
(f) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and 158
regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act to 159
ensure the proper implementation of this subsection. 160
(g) The State Department of Education shall identify 161
appropriate resources to comply with the provisions of this 162
subsection that are free of charge. Once identified, the 163
department shall list the free resources on the department's 164
website. 165
SECTION 3. Section 37-28-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 166
amended as follows: 167
37-28-45. (1) Charter schools are subject to the same civil 168
rights, health and safety requirements applicable to noncharter 169
public schools in the state, except as otherwise specifically 170
provided in this chapter. 171
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(2) Charter schools are subject to the student assessment 172
and accountability requirements applicable to noncharter public 173
schools in the state; however, this requirement does not preclude 174
a charter school from establishing additional student assessment 175
measures that go beyond state requirements if the authorizer 176
approves those measures. 177
(3) Although a charter school is geographically located 178
within the boundaries of a particular school district and enrolls 179
students who reside within the school district, the charter school 180
may not be considered a school within that district under the 181
purview of the school district's school board. The rules, 182
regulations, policies and procedures established by the school 183
board for the noncharter public schools that are in the school 184
district in which the charter school is geographically located do 185
not apply to the charter school unless otherwise required under 186
the charter contract or any contract entered into between the 187
charter school governing board and the local school board. 188
(4) Whenever the provisions of Title 37, Mississippi Code of 189
1972, relating to the elementary and secondary education of public 190
school students establish a requirement for or grant authority to 191
local school districts, their school boards and the schools within 192
the respective school districts, the language "school districts," 193
"school boards," "boards of trustees," "the schools within a 194
school district," or any other similar phraseology does not 195
include a charter school and the governing board of a charter 196
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school unless the statute specifically is made applicable to 197
charter schools as well as noncharter public schools. 198
(5) A charter school is not subject to any rule, regulation, 199
policy or procedure adopted by the State Board of Education or the 200
State Department of Education unless otherwise required by the 201
authorizer or in the charter contract. 202
(6) Charter schools are not exempt from the following 203
statutes: 204
(a) Chapter 41, Title 25, Mississippi Code of 1972, 205
which relate to open meetings of public bodies. 206
(b) Chapter 61, Title 25, Mississippi Code of 1972, 207
which relate to public access to public records. 208
(c) Section 37-3-51, which requires notice by the 209
district attorney of licensed school employees who are convicted 210
of certain sex offenses. 211
(d) Section 37-3-53, which requires publication of the 212
Mississippi Report Card by the State Board of Education. 213
(e) Section 37-11-18, which requires the automatic 214
expulsion of a student possessing a weapon or controlled substance 215
on educational property. 216
(f) Section 37-11-18.1, which requires expulsion of 217
certain habitually disruptive students. 218
(g) Section 37-11-19, which requires suspension or 219
expulsion of a student who damages school property. 220
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(h) Section 37-11-20, which prohibits acts of 221
intimidation intended to keep a student from attending school. 222
(i) Section 37-11-21, which prohibits parental abuse of 223
school staff. 224
(j) Section 37-11-23, which prohibits the willful 225
disruption of school and school meetings. 226
(k) Sections 37-11-29 and 37-11-31, which relate to 227
reporting requirements regarding unlawful or violent acts on 228
school property. 229
(l) Section 37-11-67, which prohibits bullying or 230
harassing behavior in public schools. 231
(m) Section 37-13-3, which prohibits doctrinal, 232
sectarian or denominational teaching in public schools. 233
(n) Sections 37-13-5 and 37-13-6, which require the 234
flags of the United States and the State of Mississippi to be 235
displayed near the school building. 236
(o) Section 37-13-63(1), which prescribes the minimum 237
number of days which public schools must be kept in session during 238
a scholastic year. 239
(p) Section 37-13-91, which is the Mississippi 240
Compulsory School Attendance Law. 241
(q) Section 37-13-171(2) and (4), which requires any 242
course containing sex-related education to include instruction in 243
abstinence-only or abstinence-plus education. 244
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(r) Section 37-13-173, which requires notice to parents 245
before instruction on human sexuality is provided in public 246
classrooms. 247
(s) Section 37-13-193, which relates to civil rights 248
and human rights education in the public schools. 249
(t) Sections 37-15-1 and 37-15-3, which relate to the 250
maintenance and transfer of permanent student records in public 251
schools. 252
(u) Section 37-15-6, which requires the State 253
Department of Education to maintain a record of expulsions from 254
the public schools. 255
(v) Section 37-15-9, which establishes minimum age 256
requirements for kindergarten and first grade enrollment in public 257
schools. 258
(w) Section 37-15-11, which requires a parent, legal 259
guardian or custodian to accompany a child seeking enrollment in a 260
public school. 261
(x) Sections 37-16-1, 37-16-3, 37-16-4 and 37-16-9, 262
which relate to the statewide assessment testing program. 263
(y) Section 37-18-1, which establishes the 264
Superior-Performing Schools Program and Exemplary Schools Program 265
to recognize public schools that improve. 266
(z) Section 37-13-163(3), which authorizes the display 267
of the Ten Commandments in all public school classrooms. 268
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ST: Ten Commandments; permit display in every
public school and charter school classroom.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 269
and after July 1, 2026. 270